I've been cheering for a return of the airship for many years: they are quiet (a BIG plus!), very fuel efficient, safe (helium doesn't burn!!), and quite symbolic of a sustainable society. Moreover, if they were covered with solar cells they could be virtually carbon neutral!!
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/intelligent-energy/could-blimps-replace-cargo-planes-within-10-years/1891/
smartplanet.com / Smart Business / Intelligent Energy
Could blimps replace cargo planes within 10 years?
By Melissa Mahony | Jul 9, 2010
Two weeks ago I discussed how huge military airships may soon perform reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan. Ah war, people often ask, what is it good for? But blimps? Blimps are good for lots of things, potentially.
The previous post's comment section made some nice suggestions: cargo transportation, surveying natural disaster areas (ex. the Haiti earthquake), temporary communication stations, and of course, advertising space.
Sir David King agrees with many of them.
The renowned scientist, speaking at the World Forum of Enterprise and Environment held at Oxford University, predicted that airships might begin replacing cargo planes and other aircraft within ten years.
Juliette Jowit of The Guardian writes:
Airships would be too slow for some high-speed airfreight, and would not be needed to carry the majority of cargo for which much slower ships are suitable. But with a speed of 125kph (78mph), and much lower fuel costs, plus a carrying capacity potentially many times that of a standard Boeing 747 plane, blimps could in future carry much of current air freight.
King reportedly cited estimates from airship developer World SkyCat that a modern-day blimp would emit 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions while it hauled twice the amount of strawberries between Britain and Spain.
This makes me wonder if the carbon-easy transportation would revolutionize a locavore's food-mile equations. Hmm, I'm not sure, but a mass swapping of planes for viable airships sounds dreamy.
I hope they they work.
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Comments (1)
Malcolm said
at 10:21 am on Jul 12, 2010
Inline response: [Good point!! Helium IS a limited resource, despite the fact that it it second most abundant element in the universe. It leaves the earth's atmosphere pretty quickly after it escapes from the lithosphere, where it is one of the breakdown products of radioactive elements. The main source is natural gas, which contains from a few ppm, to 7% helium. There is currently a shortage of supply, and the price has more than doubled in recent years..... so i guess the probability of vast fleets of helium-filled airships is perhaps not so high after all. That said, if airships DO start to jack up the demand for helium, this might spur new technology for extraction, as well as more exploration - and it is estimated that un-proven reserves are 10 times that of proven reserves, so i think that the matter is still up in the air. Also, if gas loss is minimized from airships, then once they are filled, only minimal "topping up" will be required.] Is there enough helium? I saw someone complaining about toy helium balloons a few years ago, saying they were depleting a non-renewable resource for frivolous reasons
Chris
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